


Old Habits

by retribution



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, RinRei Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 04:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6038581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retribution/pseuds/retribution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Rinrei Week 3 - Day 5. In which Rin and Rei start a new tradition of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Habits

It seemed to have become something of a habit for Rin and Rei, these night encounters between just the two of them, with gradual progress away from yelling and shoving to, well… they hadn’t gotten any softer, but at least their exchanges were friendlier now.

“Well, what do you think, Rei?  Pretty cool, huh?  Right?”

“…I am fairly certain we would need more than three members in the swim club before we could set up a maid café at Iwatobi, Rin-san,” Rei said politely, making his best effort to decline the box full of maid dresses Rin was trying to get him to take.

“And I’m sure you’ll get a bunch of new members this coming year!  Your team made it to nationals, you guys are the talk of the town!” Rin persisted in his offer of the box while Rei continued to avoid accepting with increasing displays of flexibility.

“That may be so, but I believe there is already a maid cafe established at our campus.  The drama club runs it every year during the school festival, if I recall---”

“Doesn’t matter!” Rin interrupted, talking right over that logical explanation.  “Look, the maid café run by the swim team is a popular and long-running tradition at Samezuka, I really think you should consider instating one for Iwatobi next year.  I’ve got the receipts, so I won’t take no for an answer.”

Narrowing his eyes, Rei took in Rin’s determined expression and stubborn stance and asked, “Rin-san… does this have anything to do with the fact that you didn’t get to see me wear a maid dress during your school festival?”

“What?  No, of course not!  Well, I did see you in the dress for a second, but why do you think I’d care to see more?  Because I don’t!  ”  Rin’s denial was betrayed by his flushing bright red however.

“Then that is fortunate,” Rei said, relieved but a little amused by Rin’s reaction.   “I could barely fit into Momotarou-kun’s dress, it was not beautiful at all!  I’m just thankful all of Nagisa-kun’s photos of us turned out blurry.”

Rin grimaced and made a pained noise, though it actually sounded more regretful than disgusted.  “Anyway, you and Nagisa get to be butlers next year, not maids,” he muttered, noticeably disappointed.  Glumly, he set the box down on the floor of the Samezuka pool facility.  “All right, you don’t have to take the dresses, Rei, I just wanted to help you guys out and you know, loan you some things for when you lead the team next year.”

“You mean, you want to have some influence in the future of the Iwatobi Swim Club through me.”  Smiling, Rei adjusted his glasses with one hand. “Well, I would like to inform you that our swim club already has its own traditions.  Summer training camp at the three islands, for example.”

“Oh riiiight, the training camp during which all four of you almost drowned and didn’t tell me about until over a year later and I yelled at you for like, three days straight?  That one?”  Snorting, Rin continued sternly, “No one would be in mortal danger at a maid café is all I’m saying.”

“…I admit, you have a point there…” Rei murmured, an undertone of guilt creeping into his voice.

“Hey, now, don’t sound so gloomy, Rei,” Rin told him reassuringly.  “I mean, at least you had an excuse, you didn’t know how to swim, it wasn’t like you forgot or did it out of spite.”  At Rei’s still crestfallen expression, Rin said in his most captainly manner, “As long as you make it a rule for your club members to always have a swim buddy with them, then I’m sure it won’t happen again!”

Nodding in understanding, Rei exclaimed, “Excellent idea, Rin-san!  I will make a note of it, don’t worry about that!” 

The box of dresses were moved back into the supply closet to be sorted later, and the two spent some time picking through the Samezuka equipment for extra supplies that could serve the future swim club (of hopefully more than three members) at Iwatobi.  Every now and then, Rin and Rei reached for the same object, and soft apologies exchanged as they kept on bumping knuckles and wrists with unusual frequency for athletes of their caliber.

Eventually, in spite of all the mooning and fawning between the two, Rei had finally gathered a box containing videos and books and kickboards and spare floats to take back with him to campus.

“Thank you very much for your help today, Rin-san, I’m sure these items will be very useful.”

“No problem.  It was fun.”  Rubbing the back of his neck, Rin grinned, looking embarrassed yet eager, and said, “Uhh, I don’t know if I ever told you face to face, but I just wanted to say while I had the chance… that I’m really proud of you, Rei.”

“Really?” was all Rei could stammer out in response.

“Yes, really.  You started out as a total newbie who couldn’t swim at all to become swim team captain in the space of two years.  That’s amazing, I don’t think anyone else could have done the same.”

“I had a lot of people go out of their way to help and encourage me, yourself included.”

“But you stuck to it and actually did it.  You learned how to swim, and fast, and on top of that, you are a dependable teammate and just… a really good friend to everyone.”  Impulsively, Rin reached over and gave Rin a brief squeeze around the shoulders.  “I can tell sometimes you feel a little left out, but trust me, you are meant to be part of their team.  No one else could do what you did to keep all of us on track, so you should be proud.”

“I see,” Rei responded, his voice low in pleased shyness.  “It… means a lot to me to hear that from you, Rin-san, I appreciate it.  And I, too, have something I have been wanting to tell you.”

“Oh?”

“As you can probably imagine, Rin-san, I didn’t care for you at first, and even when I came to learn more about you, I could feel only resentment and envy, as well as disdain for your behavior towards Haruka-senpai. Which, to me, seemed like a combination of both mean-spirited self-absorption and an immature refusal to communicate.

“Umm… wow, okay, a little harsh, Rei…” Rin muttered stiffly.  “Though I guess I can’t really deny it.”

“But precisely because of what I gathered about you,” Rei resumed, “I could understand what it meant to be part of a team, to want to win, of course, and also to be with friends. Not only that, I could sense how much it hurts to lose and be left out.  You could say that I helped you all; at the same time, I wouldn’t have gotten to that point without knowing about you, Rin-san.”

Taking a deep breath, Rei caught Rin’s gaze, and said in his matter-of-fact way, “You are the flame that started us going, Rin-san, just as Haruka-senpai is the crucible and Nagisa-kun the pressure and Makoto-senpai and I are the reagents.  Despite our differences, the bonds we created amongst ourselves are vitally important to the reaction--”

“Seriously, Rei, are we talking chemistry now?” Rin interjected, grinning at Rei’s sudden realization of his going into full nerd mode.

“I’m sorry!” he squawked out, flustered.  “I-It was the best explanation I could think of at the moment.  I hope you understood what I meant?”

“I get it, Rei, I do.  Thanks, you big nerd.”  Rin glanced away, trying his best to keep from smiling and failing, much to Rei’s delight.

“May I ask what brought this up all of a sudden, Rin-san?” Rei ventured.

“Nothing in particular,” Rin replied, still with a faraway look in his eyes.  “Well, maybe… a little sentimentalism for my high school days that are ending soon, I guess.”

“I see.”  Then Rei added, perhaps helpfully or perhaps teasingly, “Would you like a tissue, Rin-san? I have some in my backpack.”

“What?!  I’m fine, the storage closet was just dusty, okay?!”

“Yes, it certainly was,” Rei said in a soothing tone while Rin glared and vehemently continued to deny that he had been tearing up through wet eyes and runny nose.

They lingered around the pool some more, reluctant to leave each other’s company, but both knew that it was past time for Rei to be heading to the train station back to Iwatobi.  While Rei was very slowly packing his backpack, Rin cleared his throat at least five times, which Rei did not fail to notice, and felt compelled to ask him again if he needed a tissue or cough drops (on account of all the dust, of course.)

“No, I’m fine, I just uh, have one more thing,” Rin began, his usual confident smirk not quite compensating for the slight tremor in his voice.  “Rei, it’s great to see you here after school and all, but I’ve been thinking, I should really show you around town sometime, somewhere less… academic, you know?”

“Oh, I suppose that might be nice.  I haven’t really seen much of Sano outside of the school grounds.  What did you have in mind, Rin-san?”

“Well, there’s a new sushi restaurant nearby that opened last week, I read a lot of good reviews online for it.  I figured if you’re free this weekend, we could check it out?”

“I would love to.”

“I mean, it’s not a big deal, I was just thinking how you come here so many evenings but I never get you any decent food, and I felt bad, it’s not right for someone training hard… Wait, you really want to?  With me?”

“Of course.”  Rei nodded, smiling that bright fond smile that Rin did not realize how much he had always wanted to see directed at only him, until he received the full force of one such smile at that moment.

“If it is with Rin-san, who is important to me, then of course…”

In his relief and excitement, Rin threw an arm around Rei’s shoulders and pulled him close.  Putting his lips to his ear and making Rei laugh aloud, Rin said, “We could make it our new tradition, just you and me.”

“And sushi.”

“And sushi.”

“And no maid dresses.”

“…And sushi.”

“Rin-san!”


End file.
